What is Holding you Back?
Have you ever felt you wanted to achieve a specific goal or wanted to take on a task, but for some reason, you cannot motivate yourself to take the next step towards reaching this goal or doing what you wanted to do?
In many ways, the best way I can describe this is when you compare the situation with a person who decides to go bungee jumping for the first time. Unaware of what to expect, you walk towards the entrance, at the bottom of the stairs, that leads to the place where they will be jumping from. At first, this might be difficult, seeing all the stairs that awaits and the seemingly high platform, you might have doubts but you manage to convince yourself to go up with a bit of persuasion.
As you get closer and closer to the platform, you start realizing; This is actually very “high,” and possibly even begin doubting if this was a good idea. Next, you get to the safety briefing area, where they brief you and prepare for what will happen next. If your nerves were not shattered before, they will most certainly, start eating away in your mind. If you made it here, you have come a long way since you started your journey at the bottom of the stairs. Next, you move closer and closer to the ledge as you move to the platform from where the jump will initiate.
At this point, your heart is probably resembling that of a racehorse, beating at unimaginable speeds. Going closer and closer to the platform, your mind has gone into a bewildering zone of conflicting memories. Should or should I not? As the instructors hook the shock cord to your harness, you approach the point where you need to decide. At that point, your mind is going crazy as you conually experience a moment of mixed emotions as your body starts filling with adrenaline. Just before you jump or decide not to jump, this moment is similar to what we feel when we need to make life-changing decisions.
When something holds you back from reaching your full potential, how do you motivate yourself to push your limits? Much like the person standing on the platform, on the verge of jumping, the decision to make a change or to make the jump is entirely up to you. We need to realize that we are often become our own worst enemies, limiting ourselves to achieve more than we already do. In essence, many times, we need to persuade ourselves to take the first step towards changing. Ideally, change can be sparked by engaging your inner fears aimed at surpassing your expectations. To make a mind-shift is not always easy, but sometimes essential.
And when you do make the desired changes, you most often say to yourself, “why haven't I done this before.”
Sometimes we limit ourselves by failing to think outside the box, in the box being our comfort zone. When we want to push ourselves beyond our limits, we need to cross our boundaries but do so in manners that are considered healthy and sound. The coaching process can help you discover your limitations and will help you find out ways in which you can go beyond your expectations. In these sessions, we will unpack your struggles and challenges and possibly change them into opportunities to grow. Remember, we cannot always change others and our surroundings, but we can learn to handle situations in healthier ways.
Paul the Apostle summarizes the struggles that we endure in as something that we find glory in. Our struggles and challenges help produce perseverance, and perseverance builds character, which helps generate hope, and hope certainly does not put us to shame. In the essence of hope, we stand motivated, of becoming who we are destined to be (Rom 5:3-5).
Understanding what is holding you back can help you achieve new heights, which you most likely did not know excited. You can become the best version of yourself by allowing yourself to make changes were needed.
At the end of the day, we all have a purpose of contributing in the ways that are uniquely us.